Keeping the season jolly

BookPage romance column by Sandy Huseby

Wounded by the circumstances of her recent divorce and facing her first solo Christmas, high school librarian Joy Candellaro impetuously runs away from her past into an adventure with unexpected consequences. When her flight to Canada crashes in the Washington state rainforest, she seizes the opportunity to walk away and start a new life. Eight-year-old Bobby and his father, Daniel, take her in against Daniel's better judgment. Joy finds herself falling in love with both the man and the boy, and begins to imagine she could actually stay at their fishing lodge forever in Kristin Hannah's miraculous Christmas tale, Comfort and Joy. Reality intrudes, though, as Joy's past catches up with her and she must go back to face her sister, Stacey, and the heartaches she's left behind. As Joy pulls together the disparate pieces of her life, she discovers the spirit of Christmas outlives the season. Truly a magical tale.